On this Labor Day, a labor historian asks why unions have been relatively quiet in the second Trump Resistance - and makes a specific case for countering the influence of pro-Trump union leaders like Teamster Sean O’Brien.
Professor Erik Loomis in The New York Times:
This is a most unfortunate Labor Day for labor. The labor movement has taken it on the chin repeatedly in the last several decades, but President Trump is the most ruthlessly antilabor president since before the Great Depression.
If the labor movement does not fight harder than it has since Mr. Trump regained the presidency, its future will be dire.
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Despite this assault on their very existence, we have barely heard a peep from unions. Where is organized labor in the public fight to maintain union jobs, stop the stripping of the safety net and lead the fight for democracy? Other than some statements and angry speeches, the movement has been muted.
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To survive the Trump onslaught, organized labor must rise to the moment. First, it must go outside of union protocol by calling out labor leaders such as Mr. O’Brien. Until unionists take back the narrative of resistance, many in the larger liberal coalition will think that unions are much more supportive of Mr. Trump than they actually are.
Second, unions must get their own members engaged in issues that interact with politics. That includes much more political education, not just around candidates at election time but also on issues that matter now. For decades, many unions have shied away from discussing divisive issues (such as immigration) with their members. For some, this is a realistic response to the fact that unions means less than other political beliefs to many members. But when unions talk to their members about politics only at election time, it leads to a disconnect between rhetoric and action that causes many members to tune out.
Third, unions must step into the vacuum that millions of Americans feel when it comes to their economic lives. The hopelessness many people feel on economic issues — like the shuttering of factories and inflation — has led to working-class support for Mr. Trump. But it has also led to a surge in support for unions in this country. Most people believe the system is broken and are looking for someone to fix it. Unions can provide that leadership.
Sector splits hang over this divide. There are 14 million union members in America, divided evenly between government workers and private sector workers. But those two groups of 7 million union members represent far different shares of their respective sectors: 32% of public sector workers are unionized, less than 6% in the private sector.
A government employee is five times likelier to be unionized.
But it is not just public vs. private. The citations fall into caricatures that enlarge the fissures across the entire electorate: white, male Teamsters supporting Republicans while government employees and female-dominated professions still oppose Trump.
Labor is a major constituency within the Democratic Party ecosystem, and another place where leaders of influential groups got distant from those they represent over the past decade.
Much to figure out in the 889 days before the Party starts declaring presidential primary victors.